The importance of Public

Relations for an organization

in the age of information
technology: A critical analysis

11/25/2020

Course Titile: Public Relations.

Course Code: MCJ 3209

Submitted By, Sumitted To,

Anirudha Biswas Md. Uzzal Talukder,
ID: 182622 Lecturer,

Mass Communication & Mass Communication &

Journalism Discipline, Journalism Discipline,

Khulna University. Khulna University.

The importance of public relations for an organization in the age of
information technology: A critical analysis

‘Public Relations is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and
maintain mutual understanding between on organization and its publics.’
- Institute of Public Relations, USA

The Information Age also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, or New Media Age, is a
historical period that began in the mid-20th century, characterized by a rapid epochal shift from
the traditional industry established by the Industrial Revolution to an economy primarily based
upon information technology. A new system emerged, where industries around all sectors became
independent mostly on Information to succeed. As public relation deals with information and its
circulation, it became important for industries of all sectors to survive. (Kim Ann Zimmermann,
2017)1
Public Relations serve a wide variety of institutions in society such as business, trade unions,
Government agencies, voluntary agencies. foundations. hospitals, educational and religious
institutions. To achieve their goals, these institutions must develop effective relationships with
many different audiences or ‘Public’ such as employees, members, consumers, with society at
large.

Definition of Public Relations: As per Edward L. Bernays, ‘Public relations is the attempt
by information persuasion and adjustment to engineer public support for an activity, cause,
movement or institution.’
-Public Relations, 1945.
Herbert M. Baus said, ‘Public Relations is a combination of philosophy, sociology, economics,
language, psychology, journalism, communication and other knowledges into a system of human
understanding.’
-Publicity: How to Plan, Produce and Place it, 1942.
David Mckie described it as, ‘Public relations is better described than defined. It is an applied
professional practice and an academic field, and both offer communication centered and research-
based ways to understand, inform, and intervene to adjust relationships between ideas, individuals,
groups, and societies.
-Public Relations, 2017.
John W. Hill defined it as, ‘The Management function which gives the same organized and careful
attention to the asset of goodwill as is given to any other major asset of business.’
 -Corporate Public Relations, 1958.
Rex Francis Harlow viewed it as, ‘Public Relations is distinctive management function which
helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and
cooperation between an organization and its publics; involves the management of problems or
issues; helps management to keep informed on and responsive to public opinion; defines and
emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve the public interest; helps management keep
abreast of and effectively utilize change, serving as an early warning system to help anticipate
trends; and uses research and sound and ethical communication as its principal tools.’
-Public Relations in War and Peace, 1958
In my opinion, Public Relations (PR) is the process of communication management between the
organization and its audience. On a more precise note, it is the management function that
establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the
publics on whom its success or failure depends.
Public relations is a conduit, a facilitator, and a manager of communication, conducting research,
defining problems, and creating meaning by fostering communication among many groups in
society. It is designed to influence, gain understanding, provide information, and obtain feedback
from those affected by the activity. It attempts to foster public support for an activity, cause,
movement or institution by information persuasion.

Historical Background of Public Relations: In Germany, the industrial giant Krupp set
up a news bureau in 1893 and there are other examples of organized business and governmental
communication activities and operational units in the first 30 years of the twentieth century. In the
UK, the Marconi company sent out its first news release in 1910. The first British public relations
agency, Editorial Services, was set up in London in 1924 and the first holder of a ‘Public Relations
Officer’ post was appointed in 1925. However, public relations and corporate communications in
both countries did not take off until after the Second World War. In the US, public relations became
established between the world wars. (Tom Watson, 2012)2
International public relations was fostered primarily by Europeans, many of them reflecting the
pain of war and seeking a platform for international understanding and promotion of democracy
through public relations strategies and practices. The formation of IPRA was driven from 1948
onwards by Odd Medboe (Norway), Tom Fife Clark (UK), Johannes Brongers (Netherlands) and,
when it started in 1955, had representation from France, Netherland, Norway, the UK, and the US.
Belgium and Finland joined shortly afterwards.
In, 1960s and 1970s, the field of public relations was mainly focused on media relations. This was
a reflection of the journalistic background of many of the recent entrants and of their employers in
companies and governments. This remains a major part of the practice today and is, arguably, one
of the limitations to the recognition of public relations as a modern or new profession.
In the 1990s, Europe led the public relations world in two areas. The first was the formation of the
International Communications Consultants Association (ICCO) in 1988 which brought the world’s
public relations trade bodies together and the second was the interpretation of the ‘Quality
Assurance’ movement into the public relations field. One of the factors that had supported growth
of public relations employment and budgets had been the formation of national public relations
trade and professional bodies.
So, by the end of the first decade of the 21st century, public relations has become a major
communication practice in Europe and around the world. The very small beginnings in the US
with the first public relations agency business in 1900 have led to widespread employment,
extensive use of its practices and a burgeoning research and academic field.

Models of Public Relations: James E. Grunig and Todd Hunt have described 4 Models of
Public Relation in their book ‘Managing Public Relations’.
Press Agent Model: This is probably the kind of activity that most people associate with public
relations. A press agent or publicist aims to secure coverage for a client, and truth is not an absolute
requirement.
In the Press Agent or Publicity Model, communications professionals use persuasion to shape the
thoughts and opinions of key audiences. In this model, accuracy is not important and organizations
do not seek audience feedback or conduct audience analysis research. It is a one-way form of
communication. (Alison Theaker, 2001)3
Example: Barnum’s obvious successor today is publicist Max Clifford, who has an astonishing
reputation for securing front page coverage for his clients, though he also claims that much of his
work is spent keeping them out of the papers. Both activities would be typical of press agentry,
which is not always over-concerned with the factual accuracy of information provided. One of
Clifford’s most memorable coups must be the Sun’s front page headline ‘Freddie Starr ate my
hamster’, which would certainly be covered by the Boorstin quote above.
Public Information Model: This kind of communication provides information to people – where
accuracy is now important, indeed essential. This model does not seek to persuade the audience or
change attitudes.
The Public Information Model moves away from the manipulative tactics used in the press agent
model and presents more accurate information. However, the communication pattern is still one-
way. Practitioners do not conduct audience analysis research to guide their strategies and tactics.
Some press releases and newsletters are created based on this model, when audiences are not
necessarily targeted or researched beforehand.
Example: Local and central government continue to practise public information communication.
Press releases giving details of committee decisions, budget allocation, or movement of personnel
are typical public information activities.
Two-way Asymmetrical Model: This model introduces the idea of feedback or Two-way
communication. However, it is asymmetric or imbalanced because the intended change is in the
audience’s attitudes or behavior rather than in the organization’s practices. It is also described as
persuasive communication.
The two-way asymmetrical model presents a more ‘scientifically persuasive’ way of
communicating with key audiences. Here, content creators conduct research to better understand
the audience’s attitudes and behaviors, which in turn informs the message strategy and creation.
Still, persuasive communication is used in this model to benefit the organization more so than
audiences; therefore, it is considered asymmetrical or imbalanced. The model is particularly
popular in advertising and consumer marketing, fields that are specifically interested in increasing
an organization’s profits.
Example: Political campaigning at elections, where each candidate seeks to influence their
constituents.
Two-way Symmetrical Model: This model is sometimes described as the ‘ideal’ of public
relations. It describes a level of equality of communication not often found in real life, where each
party is willing to alter their behavior to accommodate the needs of the other.
The Two-way Symmetrical Model argues that the public relations practitioner should serve as a
liaison between the organization and key publics, rather than as a persuader. Here, practitioners
are negotiators and use communication to ensure that all involved parties benefit, not just the
organization that employs them.
Example: PR practitioners aim increasingly to be part of the decision-making process. The rise in
strategic PR reflects the rise in awareness of the need to understand publics and anticipate and
defuse potential problems. These days PR often involves persuading the organization to change its
practice in the face of public pressure.

Importance of Public Relations: When we talk about PR, it helps companies get noticed
by existing clients, prospects and business partners. Hence, it is essential that enterprises
understand the benefits of public relations (PR) to create a workable plan to tap the attention of
clients.
Enhancing media relations: Create editorial contacts, disburse news releases, emerge as a top
news source by offering guest posts, editorials and engage in media interviews, forums. Publicity
plays a crucial role in media relations.
Improved relations with employees: Using newsletters, meetings, events, and programme to
speak with internal audiences is an excellent way for a business to display its commitment to do
the right thing.
Better engagement with community: It is essential that an enterprise strengthens relations in the
domestic market by inking collaboration with local groups, joining charitable endeavours,
spending funds on causes and projects that prove beneficial for the community. When a startup
understands the relevance of building community relations, it helps in enhancing visibility and
positioning of the brand.
Improving ties with industry: Every business, irrespective of its size, should join industry
associations and take part in industry initiated events and work in preferred business arena to push
their visibility. Emerging as a known name helps in augmenting credibility among colleagues and
audiences.
Strengthening ties with Government officials: Getting your firm acquainted with the key
government officials is a great idea to create favourble impression.
Crisis management: Any negative news about your enterprise may hamper its image. One of the
essential benefits of PR is its ability to manage crisis situations and resolve complex issues
effectively.

Public Relation in Politics: The significant role of public relations in the political process
has been ubiquitous throughout history. From Ancient Greece and Rome to the American
Revolution, scholars have documented the importance of public relations and communication in
politics and democracy.
In a Political atmosphere, Public Relations determines the shape of a politician, his position and
image. Let’s take the recent American election as example where Joe Biden and Donald Trump
competed for the White House. If we look deep into the Electoral Campaign we see, Trump wasn’t
sharing his plans, but Biden had done so. There is a section within the Biden campaign's website
that lays out his vision for the four years and where he stands on particular issues. This clear
messaging makes it easy to understand what he stands for.
On the contrary, it is harder to recognize what the Trump campaign stands for, and what Trump's
vision is for the next four years. The focus is instead on past accomplishments, with a section
called ‘Promises Kept.
The Biden campaign's Instagram is well built. They regularly post stories, and their team has done
a good job optimizing all of the campaign images to feel similar and cohesive. This is a good move
for the campaign, as their primary audience tends to be active on Instagram. On the other hand,
Twitter meets the needs of the Trump campaign better than Instagram, given their core audience.
Consequently, the campaign's Instagram account is not as built out. The images are poorly
formatted and lack cohesion, and the accounts bio does not give much information about their
mission.
Biden discusses issues central to the Biden’s campaign, as well as a focus on the email receiver,
seem to be the highest priorities in the Biden email funnels. Donation requests are slightly less
typically longer than most people want to read, which could cause lost interest and decreased email
opens and clicks. Whereas, Trump only asks for donation. Even those who have donated to the
Trump campaign are daily asked to donate again. Most of this campaign's emails also offer some
kind of match donation incentive. The most common is a TX match, where if the user donates $5,
the Trump campaign will match with $35, making the user feel like their donation is actually S40.
And the result is out now. So, this descriptive comparison shows how politics and public relations
are deeply related.

Function of Public Relations in an Organization: Today's world is a world of

communication and in every second, millions of information units are exchanged in the world.
Since development of human life improves, thus increase need to information and communication
every day increased and nowadays having accurate and up to date information for people is the
important and people with more information will be more successful. David Mckie of University
of Waikato has described some functions of Public Relations.4
Issue management and lobbying: Businesses and corporations play important roles in
contemporary society but often, rightly or wrongly, draw negative attention from activists.
Activists often then seek to challenge business actions or even the legitimacy of their role in society
and do so by seeking allies among workforces and the mainstream and online media in order to
pressure governments to support their protests. They often do so by lobbying or trying to influence
governments, officials, politicians, and stakeholder publics. Corporations, in turn, or even in
anticipation, engage in issue management to counter what they perceive as threats to their
autonomy arising from potential or actual government regulation of industry. Public relations
practitioners – often amateur or unpaid on the activist side – are engaged at various levels of this
issue management, often representing the different sides of the debate.
Public affairs: Public affairs has some overlap with lobbying but is more focused on creating and
maintaining good relationships between organizations and relevant governments, lawmakers,
officials, political parties, politicians, and other important public service decision makers and
power brokers. Although previously included as a part of public relations, it has almost grown into
a field in its own right with its own associations and journals. The relationship capital it gathers is
frequently used to influence public policy legislation as part of issue management. The overt
influencing of public policy is seen more in pluralistic political systems and countries where
governments favor higher levels of regulation of private enterprise. Public affairs also refers to
corporate activities undertaken by good corporate citizens through assisting in such things as
community building programs. Government agencies usually use the term “public affairs” as a
substitute for the term ‘Public Relation’ because of the pejorative connotations associated with the
latter, which is often perceived as propaganda and publicity. Government agencies do not want to
be seen as investing public funds in what can be perceived as propaganda, and therefore terms
such as ‘Public Relation’ and ‘Public Information’ are used as a substitute for departments or
ministries involved in what we would call public relations activities. But this may also be because
of the mission of the department. Information departments, especially in developing countries,
have the important function of contributing to national development through public information
campaigns. In most instances, however, regardless of the name of the department, it is the public
relations personnel who conduct these campaigns.
Media relations: Using the mass media for public relations purposes is as old as public relations
practice itself. In many parts of the world, significant numbers of organizational managers and
public relations practitioners erroneously equate public relations with media relations. Typically,
practitioners spend most of their time developing relationships with members of the media with
the sole goal of getting positive publicity in the media. Although members of the mass media have
traditionally had a contentious, often explicitly adversarial, relationship with public relations
practitioners, the two sides work together because each needs the other. The term “information
subsidy” refers to the use of information provided by public relations people to the mass media at
very little, or no, expense to them. Research from the 1990s found that even though the mass media
editors surveyed had a negative opinion of public relations practitioners they still found that public
relations supplied more information to the mass media than at any previous time. Given that the
deteriorating economics of media in general, and the mainstream press in particular, has led to
massive reductions in journalistic staff, the quantity of public relations content entering media is
likely to have increased significantly. In addition, as the blogosphere and social media now often
set the agenda and provide content (including still and moving images) for mainstream media,
public relations has another point of entry as have activists with online citizen journalism. Media
relations, then, continues to be a very important aspect of public relations around the world. It
should also be noted that personal influence, garnered by building strong relationships with
journalists and editors, also contributes to increased media coverage. Such influence can become
particularly critical during times of crises when organizations face robust media coverage.
Research suggests that the phrase ‘no comment’ should never be used in media relations,
particularly during crisis situations, because information that is often detrimental to the interests
of the organization usually fills the void created by such silence.
Investor relations and financial relations: Investor relations helps add value to a company’s
stock by keeping the key public of shareholders, or possible shareholders, adequately informed of
the ‘financial health’ of the company and by gaining and maintaining their confidence. Investors
are more likely to be loyal to a company in which they have confidence. Maintaining relationships
with investors is often done through media relations activities (especially media that specialize in
financial matters). So, apart from keeping individual investors informed, corporations also use a
two-step flow of influencing individual investors through opinion leaders such as financial analysts
or the financial press. The public relations industry has been trying hard for decades to find ways
of proving how it contributes to the financial health of corporations. Investor relations is one
specialty where public relations professionals can prove their contributions in more tangible
(financial) terms. Investor relations is needed even in non-profit organizations that have to attract
and maintain good donor relations. The growth of crowdfunding, where communication is so vital,
has also opened important roles for public relations in attracting investors and maintaining
relationships with them – and adding more visible value in doing so.
Community relations: In this age when the public is questioning the right to exist of many
institutions, especially those corporations considered ‘too big to fail’ in the wake of the global
financial crisis, the traditional public relations function of maintaining good relations with the
community is more vital than ever. Nevertheless, maintaining good relations with the community
in which they operate also remains as big a challenge as ever for all organizations because of the
competing values and expectations that different sections of the community have with regard to
an organization’s existence and performance. In the past decade, the need to exhibit ‘corporate
social responsibility’ has thrust the importance of being a good “corporate citizen” to the fore,
underlining the importance of being a good community citizen. Whereas organizations often help
the community by providing jobs, a tax base, and goods and services, in the process they also may
pollute the environment, create unemployment during economic downturns, and contribute to
other socially detrimental effects. Activist groups often challenge corporations for ‘irresponsible’
activities. In the contemporary context, maintaining good community relations involves not merely
pushing out propagandistic publicity but also ‘listening’ and being responsive to genuine
community demands. Similarly, regardless of the political philosophy of a society, government
agencies are obliged to be receptive to the demands of citizenry that happen through good
community relations. Public relations helps in this process and therefore performs a vital function
to organizations by being the ‘eyes and ears’ for the organization, by perhaps acting as the
organization’s ‘conscience’, and by bridging the gap between the organization and the society.

Proshant Kishor, The Political Strategist: Prashant Kishore spends a lot of money on
campaigning for various political parties. So, the calculation of success-failure here is very
important for him. However, his success rate is higher. But what is the chemistry of his success?
The source of that success is known from various political observers in India and leaders who have
worked with the Proshant. The first source of PK's success is research. He determines the problems
of each seat first. Then he sorted out his tactics. Secondly, almost everyone who works with him
is a professional. Through them fancy campaigns and programs are set as well as implemented.
Prashant Kishore took steps accordingly by determining the strengths and weaknesses of the pros
and cons.
Kishor, who was born in 1977, worked as a public health specialist at the UN, before he jumped
into Indian political scene. He planned election strategies for both BJP and Congress. His first ever
major political campaign in 2011 when he helped Narendra Modi win Gujarat assembly’s elections
for the third time in 2012. Nevertheless, the mission that secured him immense popularity and led
him to lead BJP’s election campaign during 2014 elections. That too was a historic win for Modi.
Later, Kishor moved away from Modi and initiated a political outfit called Indian Political Action
Committee (I-PAC). Nitish Kumar hired Kishor to shape the party’s strategies during 2015 Bihar
assembly elections when he helped him become the state chief minister for the third time. It was
said Kishor decided the resource allocation, strategies and alliances of the party. That relationship
soured in January 2020 and he was expelled from the Janata Dal (U) party. This was after he
criticized Kumar, the party head’s stand in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (2019).
In 2017 Punjab assembly elections, Prashant Kishor helped the Congress candidate Amarinder
Singh win the elections and become the CM after the party had lost two consecutive elections in
the state.
He was also employed by the Congress party for UP election campaign in 2017. This time he had
failed but he blamed Rahul Gandhi’s failing image for it. In 2019, Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy
designated Kishor’s organization as his campaign partner and his party won 151 out of 175 seats.
On February 2020, the DMK chief M K Stalin declared that Prashant Kishor had been signed up
as the election strategist for the party for assembly elections in 2021. These statistics show, how
successful he has been as a political PR. (Kingshuk Nag, 2013)5

Future of Public Relations:

With technology coming into perspective, making change more volatile, this question is a little bit
too ambitious to answer. But with current trends, I believe it is safe to predict that PR will remain
steadfast in the many years to come. Inevitably, there will be a strong focus on online content and
less on print. As for the future of public relations, in my opinion, we are looking at a growing
number of people turning towards online media as a source of relatable stories and organic, real-
time responses. There is, and will be, a considerable shift from journalist/writer-based public
relations to a customer-focused approach.
Public relations has definitely been moving to a more customer-focused structure recently, with
the consumers playing a much larger role in how agencies go about pitching their clients to the
media. I think it is an important factor to consider, and strategies should be altered slightly
nowadays to hit your client’s target customers with content that will ultimately create a quick and
beneficial turnaround for the client, whether that be through product or service purchases,
collaboration opportunities, impressions, etc. It’s important now to focus not only on what the
writer/journalist wants to write but what the consumer is hoping to read. Public relations is about
storytelling, and as people and activities evolve, so will the stories. Today, people spend more time
browsing online than reading, and when they do read online, only 28% of the words are likely to
be read. To optimize attention, the more condensed the content, the better.
For public relations, the direction is now pointing towards visual content -- infographics, GIF
content and short, shareable videos. From my perspective, the future demands short, condensed,
visually appealing and shareworthy content from the people in PR. As an agency, careful planning
and brainstorming of visual content is key. We have to be on guard of what is current and
potentially viral to appeal to audiences. Given those facts, we add in the statistic that that biggest
population of internet users is made up of people ages 18-49, a majority of which are millennials.
We are talking about a globally growing population of people who are tired, or even unoriented,
with the old public relations tactics. Do they read long articles? Do they skip advertisements? What
types of influences sway their purchase decisions? To answer these questions, the future of PR
will entail more dependence on analytics. Any organization that does not heed the validation of
the power of analytics will clearly be at a disadvantage.
The business of public relations is here to stay and is not showing any signs of stopping, as far as
I can tell. It is storytelling and image-building that will remain a constant. In the coming years
within the PR vocabulary, you will likely hear the terms ‘data techniques,’ ‘data analytics’ and
‘geo-location’ added -- all are coined as tools to target people with relevant, customer-specific
content. Companies need to be armed with data as a basis of dependable and influential stories in
order to rise above the competition. (Ken Kerrigan, 2020)6

Public relations, in the internal environment area, is directed to both the entire organization and to
its individual departments and units. Internal communication and good internal communication
channels are of paramount importance. From an internal perspective, organizations must be able
to communicate effectively with its human resources in order to streamline organizational
development. Finally, public relations must also be an important part of internal communication
to promote planned change and development within the organization.
Referrence:
1. History of Computers: A Brief Timeline, Kim Ann Zimmermann, Live Science, p. 04,
2017.
2. A (VERY BRIEF) HISTORY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS, Tom Watson, p. 22-23, 2002.
3. The Public Relations Handbook, Alison Theaker, p. 54, 2001.
4. Public Relations, David Mckie, p. 103, 2000.
5. The NaMo Story: A Political Life, Kingshuk Nag, p. 201, 2013.
6. Our Future in Public Relations, Ken Kerrigan, p. 49 p. 49 2020.